How I Build Dioramas in 1/16th.

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JohnReid

Guest
The final positioning of Fritz will depend upon what looks best when the wrecked airplane is finished.The Albatros is broken at the cockpit seat area with the pilots seat belts hanging out.Having Fritz looking directly at this area may help in understanding the storyline for the average viewer.These little things can be so helpful in getting your story across ,which is after all the whole point in doing a diorama.It is sometimes quite difficult to find the balance between subtlety and the obvious.Too obvious and the whole thing looks contrived ,too subtle and the viewer misses the point.Usually subtlety is the way to go as the impact on the viewer is greater once it is discovered.In this case a lot depends upon the knowledge of the viewer,WW1 fans will get it right away but then again the relationship between dog and man is well known to the general viewer.Anyway I still have a while to think about it.
 
J

JohnReid

Guest
Diorama Book

Here is a great opportunity to download for free a great book on diorama making.My modeling bud Ken Hamilton wrote this book years ago and it is now out of print.The original book has recently sold on ebay for 100's of bucks.

mercman51/DIO Book - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

Enjoy! Cheers John.
 
J

JohnReid

Guest
Research pictures needed. After thinking about it for awhile,I plan to build the fuselage and wings pretty much like I built the others.Because the fuselage is split in two the only thing holding the two halves together are the control wires.Therefore the fuselage will be built initially in one piece,broken and then bend.How much of the plywood covering forward of the cockpit area that I will do will depend on the amount of fire damage that will be shown.The fire would have to be large enough to flash burn the fabric off the wings but not large enough to consume the complete engine area.If the accident occurred at the airfield there would have been an attempt to rescue the pilot ,which would necessitate the use of some type of fire fighting equipment or other to subdue the flames during the rescue .By the look of the wreckage he was killed by blunt force trauma or G forces and not by fire.

The wings will be built as usual with damage added later.

The aft half of the fuselage will require that a lot of the plywood covering be shown .The tails planes would mostly be stress damage.

If anyone has knowledge of any pictures of wood and fabric airplanes ,old or new ,that have suffered this kind of damage ,please advise.

__________________

It has been said that the difference between a "pilot" and an "aviator" is that a pilot is a technician,and an aviator is an artist in love with flight.
 
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JohnReid

Guest
Take a look over on:

Vint. Airplanes - ScaleMotorcars

for a couple of Camels and a Jenny build.
 
J

JohnReid

Guest
I was wondering what to do next and when walking by my stash this fell down off the shelf(true story)So I guess that I have no choice!

This is the other guys smoking buddy.

There is a little work to be done removing the uniform to make him look a little more like a civilian.
 
J

JohnReid

Guest
First step is to remove the military uniform.I do this by hand which takes a little time.Changing from military to civilian is great ,rather than the other way around, as it is a case mostly of removing stuff.The faint belt lines that you see are actually filled with very thin super glue and sanded smooth with the surrounding surface.The rest of the parts can be used as is ,it will make a nice 20's mechanic when finished.He too will also will be sporting a cigarette in his hand.
 
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